The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr

by Chris Willis

  One of the largest NFL crowds of the past several years saw the comingout party of a dynasty. In the first quarter the Packers scored early with a touchdown pass, and the small-town team led 7-0 at the half. A Benny Friedman touchdown in the third quarter cut the lead to 7-6, as they missed the extra point. Then the Packers dominated the final quarter by scoring two touchdowns, the last one on a short run by Johnny Blood. The Packers' 20-6 victory over the Giants put Lambeau's squad into first place and just three games away from the city's first NFL championship.

  Neither the Giants nor the Packers lost any of their remaining games. The Giants finished the season at 13-1-1 but the Packers' big win at the Polo Grounds was the deciding factor. The Packers played a scoreless tie at Frankford on Thanksgiving Day, then routed Providence (25-0); to wrap up the season, they destroyed the Chicago Bears 25-0, defeating Halas's Bears for the third time in 1929. Until the 1929 season, George Halas had owned Curly Lambeau by holding a 7-3-3 overall record, but this season saw a new Packers team against the rival Bears.

  "Halas and Lambeau were friends, like coaches would be friends. But when it comes to playing, hell, you're not friends. You're out to win and you win any damn way you can," recalled George Musso, former Bears guard. In the three games that the Packers defeated the Bears, they outscored the Monsters of the Midway 62-0. After six games the Bears had a record of 4-1-1, but their final nine games resulted in eight losses and a tie. It was the Bears' first losing season. The worst defeat occurred on Thanksgiving Day when Ernie Nevers scored six touchdowns and kicked four extra points as the Cardinals slaughtered the Bears 40-6. The forty points that Nevers scored is still an NFL record for most points scored in a single game 26

  Part of the problem was that the Bears had too many past-their-prime regulars, but even more destructive was their trouble at the top. The team's co-owners, George Halas and Dutch Sternaman, were having a hard time agreeing on anything. The biggest issue was how to handle the offense, and consequently, the offense suffered. Over the next couple of years the relationship would get worse.

  Although the Packers-Giants game was the most important of the season, there was another game that would have a lasting impact on the NFL. The Providence Steam Roller had scheduled a visit from the Chicago Cardinals on November 3, but heavy rain forced a postponement. The Steam Roller management certainly didn't want to miss out on the drawing power of Ernie Nevers, so they convinced the Cardinals to stay and play a make-up game on Wednesday. The catch was the Steam Roller rescheduled the contest for a night game-the first night game in NFL history.

  Temporary floodlights were installed at little Kinsley Park (instead of the Cycledrome), and 6,000 fans filled the tiny park. Nevers played a phenomenal game by throwing for a score, running for another, and kicking a field goal as the Cards won 16-0. The night game experience was a novelty, but Carr took notice of the event and thought the idea of night games could work for his league. It would be a matter discussed by Carr and the owners shortly after the season.

  When the Packers returned home after defeating the Bears in the last game of the season, they were greeted by 20,000 shivering fans at the train station. The fans and a police escort led Lambeau and his team to City Hall, where Lambeau was presented a key to the city. Speaking to the large crowd, Lambeau was looking to the future: "It is pretty hard to say anything. This welcome is something that we didn't expect and is a complete surprise. Speaking for the boys, I can say that they appreciate it and the only answer we can make is a championship again next year."27

  The following evening the team and 400 guests held a special banquet at the Beaumont Hotel complete with a dinner, speeches, and dancing. Johnny Blood spoke for the players. "I'm in the greatest town in the world and I'm glad to be here in Green Bay, the home of the perpetual fatted calf." Lambeau spoke again about what the Packers' faithful could expect from his squad. "When a city responds as it has done to our efforts, I'll say it certainly deserves a championship. It is going to take a lot of hard work, energy and loyal support of all fans to give Green Bay another championship team next year."28

  Several telegrams were read at the banquet, congratulating the team on their championship, including one from Carr; one from Tim Mara, saying "the best team won"; and one from Halas, who wrote "the West is proud of the Green Bay Packers but look out next year." After the losing season, Halas was still very positive that his team would turn it around, but they now had to go through Lambeau's Packers if he wanted another title .21

  Carr's off-season was once again struck by tragedy. In November his close friend and former colleague Clyde Tuttle, the sports editor at the Ohio State journal, died at his desk of a heart attack. The annual Christmas party at the journal was a somber affair and was renamed in his honor. The 1929 season was a very exciting and successful one for the NFL, and Carr prepared his loop for the challenges of trying to run this organization under the cloud of the Great Depression.

  At the winter meeting held on January 25, 1930, in Dayton, the owners met at the Van Cleve Hotel to prepare for life after the crash. NFL vice president and treasurer Carl Storck hosted the event as Carr began the proceedings at 2:00 p.m. with his annual report:

  The 1929 season of the National Football League considered from all angles was the most successful in the history of the organization. Report of our treasurer will show that we had the largest average attendance per game, notwithstanding that the average weather conditions were poor.

  There were fewer complaints than in any previous season and the Executive Committee has less for its consideration than at any time in the history of the organization. The publicity was extended and in a general way the season was a great success. It is my belief that the general character of the players was improved over previous years. This is determined by the closeness of the scores in most instances and clubs which were far down in the race most of the season gave very creditable accounts when they were pitted against clubs that were much higher in the race. The four additions to the League, namely: Buffalo, Minneapolis, Orange and Stapleton did very well from an attendance standpoint and each of these cities presented clubs in the League that were well worthy of membership in the organization.

  The year of 1929 was not only a remarkable one for professional football as exemplified in the National Football League but several individual teams of outstanding importance were developed in various sections of the country, as Portsmouth and Ironton, Ohio, Ashland, Ky., and Memphis, Tenn., all practically new to the professional world had clubs backed by reputable organizations that met with favorable comment throughout the country.

  Though our league has made remarkable strides in its few years of existence I am quite sure you will agree there is much room for improvement. Personally I feel that the most stringent need at this time is capable coaches and to this end I would recommend that every club owner in the League give as serious thought to the person who is to have charge of the club as to the personnel of the club itself, for after all we must agree that team work at all times will outshine individual efforts.3o

  Carr's initial report of the new season hit the duo of Halas-Sternaman the hardest and they responded by hiring themselves a new coach. For years it was said that George Halas and Dutch Sternaman, the Bears' co-owners and co-coaches, always took opposite sides in every minor argument at league meetings but presented a united front on all major issues. But, by 1929, their bickering had spread from league politics to how their own team was being directed. The absence of a united front split the team, and the result was the first ever losing season in Bears' history with a 4-9-2 record. A change was necessary.

  Neither Halas nor Sternaman was willing to let the other take charge, so they resolved their differences by agreeing neither would coach the team. In effect they fired themselves and vowed to just run the front office matters. The Bears' owners hired Ralph Jones to be their new coach; Jones was the head man at Lake Forest (Illinois) Academy and a former assistant coach under Bob Zuppke at the partn
ers' old school of the University of Illinois. Jones had faith in the T-formation, the attack mode the Bears had used since they began as the Decatur Staleys. While other teams lined up in more modem formations, like the Notre Dame box used by Knute Rockne, Jones continued to use the basic T. But Jones added new refinements such as split ends and a man in motion in the backfield, opening up the Bears' offense for more passes and end runs. Along with Jones, the Bears signed the biggest college star in the country by inking Minnesota All-American fullback Bronko Nagurski. In 1930 the Bears rebounded with a 9-4-1 record and a third place finish.

  The owners awarded the 1929 title to the Packers; discussed the potential of adding a new franchise, with Portsmouth, Ohio, being the leading candidate; looked into the process of scheduling night games; and reelected Carl Storck as vice president and treasurer and Joe F. Carr as president and secretary (adding a new role to his job). The owners also approved a motion "that beginning in 1931 the League should meet just once a year, instead of twice, during the second week of July. Yearly meetings shall be in alternate years in Atlantic City, NJ and Chicago, Illinois.""

  After the meeting Storck talked to his hometown paper, the Dayton Journal, about one of the most important issues discussed by the moguls: "The 12 clubs, playing a total of 90 games [in 1929], had an average paid attendance of 6,000 to the contest. Every team made money, and were looking forward to bigger and better things this year. Things have not always been thus in pro football, and we were naturally curious to know what brought about such a decided change in the fortunes of the National grid league. NIGHT FOOTBALL."32

  Storck's belief that night football would be an instant hit and change the fortunes of the league would have to wait until the night games were played later that year. But it was an experiment that the NFL was willing to try for the 1930 season. The country was in the midst of a depression, and if a few more fans could attend an NFL game at night because they were working on Sunday or trying to find employment, it was an idea worth trying.

  When he returned to Columbus, Carr set up a meeting with the officials of the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans to see if they were prepared to join the NFL. Once again a few of the NFL franchises were in trouble-despite the declaration by Carl Storck that every NFL team made money, which wasn't the case-with three teams in jeopardy of folding. Carr had looked to replace the Boston Bulldogs, Buffalo Bisons, and the last of the original Ohio League teams, Storck's Dayton Triangles.

  Harold Griffen, the coach and manager of the Spartans, traveled to Columbus and met for a couple of hours in Carr's office. Griffen filed a formal application for admittance, and Carr virtually assured him that the Spartans were going to be guaranteed a spot in the NFL. Before turning the application in to Carr, the NFL's executive committee of Dr. Harry March, Dr. W. W. Kelly, and George Halas had given their approval to Carr. Formal acceptance would be made at the annual scheduling meeting in July.

  On February 21 the Portsmouth Times announced the news that President Carr and the NFL had virtually accepted the Spartans. Carr stated that he "was anxious to see Portsmouth become one of the league teams and that the Spartans had the strongest team outside the league."33

  In 1929 the city of Portsmouth, Ohio, had a population of 42,000 citizens who were very proud of their independent professional football team. That year the Spartans-who were owned by local businessmen as a nonprofit corporation-had just finished a successful season with a 12-2-1 record. So after the season the directors of the Portsmouth Football Corporation announced their intention of gaining membership to the NFL.

  The addition of Portsmouth was against Carr's prevailing trend of locating franchises in large, well-populated cities, and despite a good record in 1929 as an independent team, the Spartans might have seen their bid for an NFL franchise go unheeded except for its location. The league was badly split geographically. Minneapolis, Green Bay, and the two Chicago teams were in the upper Midwest, while New York City, Frankford, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Providence, and Newark were all on the East Coast. Portsmouth, situated on the Ohio River, made a convenient stopover payday on trips east or west. Chicago and three other teams could play night games on Wednesday in Portsmouth and then continue on to play a league game on Sunday.

  Besides its location, the city of Portsmouth had another positive thing going for it in the eyes of Joe F. Carr. The community had just agreed to build a brand new stadium to meet the needs of a big-time professional football team. The Universal Stadium Corporation, named specifically for its mission, was the creation of Harry Snyder, a prominent and longtime building contractor in the city (who would also invest money in the team). In his bid of fifty dollars annually for the lease of LaBold Field (the old field in Portsmouth where the new stadium would be built), he proposed to construct a stadium far larger and costlier than the city council had originally required. Instead of accommodating 4,000, it would seat 8,000 to 10,000; instead of costing as little as $30,000, it would run as high as $100,000.34

  The new Portsmouth franchise hired Harry Doerr as general manager and retained Harry Griffen as head coach. They sold season tickets at $12.00, having fans pay $1.00 down and the rest in installments. They set their game day prices at $1.50 for a general admission ticket and a souvenir program at ten cents. Stockholders transformed their nonprofit corporation, and they changed the name to the Portsmouth National Football League Corporation.31

  Carr stuck his neck out for the small-town Spartans, and it was definitely a big gamble on his part to include them in his big-city vision. On July 12-13 the owners and Carr returned to the Seaside Hotel in Atlantic City for the summer meeting to put the finishing touches on the NFL schedule and award new franchises. Starting at noon, Carr announced that Boston and Buffalo were out of the league. For the city of Buffalo, it would be the last time they would be in the NFL until the Buffalo Bills came along in the AFL merger. But Carr wouldn't give up on Boston as he would get them back into the league in 1932.36

  The owners officially accepted the Portsmouth Spartans (and their $2,500 guarantee fund) and admitted Hal Griffen to the meeting. After a short dinner break, Carr announced that he and the NFL's executive committee had approved the transfer of the Dayton franchise to Brooklyn. Carl Storck, who missed the meeting to attend to work for General Motors in Detroit, was out as an NFL owner. For the next twelve years he would just serve the NFL in a front office capacity. The Triangles were sold to William "Bill" Dwyer, a Brooklyn businessman, and John Depler, former Illinois star, for $2,500 (the price of the guarantee fee). Depler coached the previous season with the Orange (New Jersey) Tornadoes and assumed those duties for the new club, which adopted the baseball team's historic nickname: the Dodgers. They would, of course, play their home games at Ebbets Field.'

  Dwyer had business interest in several sports around the city, including football, hockey, and horse racing, and he owned several racetracks. The year before he purchased the Triangles, Dwyer acquired a controlling interest in the National Hockey League's (NHL) New York Americans, and he served on the NHL Board of Governors from 1929-1937. The addition of the Dodgers now gave the city of New York three teams, joining Tim Mara's Giants and Dan Blaine's Stapletons. The NFL now had eleven teams.

  1930 NFL Franchises

  Brooklyn Dodgers

  Chicago Bears

  Chicago Cardinals

  Frankford Yellow Jackets

  Green Bay Packers

  Minneapolis Redjackets

  Newark (Orange) Tornadoes

  New York Giants

  Portsmouth Spartans

  Providence Steam Roller

  Staten Island Stapletons

  The eleven teams that made up the NFL definitely gave the league a big-city look, with just two franchises in small markets-Green Bay and Portsmouth. But just like every year, Carr asked himself,, which teams would survive? Which teams could generate the money to pay players and then attract fans to the stadiums to help offset their expenses? And if they didn't accomplish this by making a
profit, could the owner absorb the financial losses and not give up on the sport? Carr had found a few owners like Tim Mara, James Dooley-Charles Coppen, Dr. David Jones, Dan Blaine, and John Dunn to invest in the NFL without showing much profit over the past several years. Frankford, Green Bay, and Portsmouth were financed by either an association, a city, or a corporation. Then there was George Halas, who was in the business of professional football for life, so Carr knew he would be sticking around. To make matters worse for Carr and his plan to try and keep the NFL in large metropolitan cities was that the Depression would have a say in who would survive.

  On the second day of the meeting, the league approved the schedule for the 1930 season (will start on September 14 and end on December 14) that included eleven Wednesday night games in four different cities-New York (Giants), Newark, Portsmouth, and Providence. With night games in tow, the owners approved a new rule stating "that all League games played at night where a white football is used, no part of the uniform of either team shall be predominately white. However, should the regulation football [brown] be used white may be used as part of the uniform."38

  Carr had now wrapped up his twenty-sixth NFL meeting as league president, and his passion and commitment for the league was at an alltime high. It had also been twenty-six years since he became the manager of the Columbus Panhandles and began his career in professional football. He had seen the growth of the sport ranging from the players on the field to the crowds of 20,000 plus in cities like Chicago and New York. It was now up to him and the owners to continue the drive to keep the league on the right track to becoming that big-city sport. This year would be their biggest challenge.